Temple To Memorialize Shuttle Crew

The seven astronauts who perished in the Challenger space shuttle explosion will be memorialized at Temple Sinai in Delray Beach in a planned meditation garden temple officers are planning.

Temple members also are ordering a memorial plaque in memory of Judith Resnick, one of the seven astronauts.

``She is Jewish and Jewish people memorialize a person when they`ve passed on,`` said Arnold Waldman, a temple trustee. ``On the anniversary of her death, a prayer called Kaddish is offered. There is a light beside her name on the board and a bulb that is screwed in to light up. The memorial light is lit for 24 hours.``

Although remembering those who have died in such a way is a common practice for Jews, it is less common for a temple to memorialize those who have no immediate relatives or close friends at the temple.

To purchase a memorial for someone who is not a member of the temple or has no other affiliation costs more, Waldman said.

Although in a sense she is an ``outsider`` to Temple Sinai, Resnick`s plaque will be given prominent display, Waldman said.

``We were moved by the tragedy and we wanted to do it that way,`` said Bernard Zeldin, temple president.

A landscape architect is drawing plans for a memorial garden in which seven trees will be planted in memory of the astronauts.

The garden will border a lake and will be a place where people who want to remember their loved ones by planting a tree may do so, Zeldin said.

``At the outset, the purpose is to honor or memorialize loved ones,`` he said. ``People will come because of the serenity of the place, to meditate, to have services, possibly to have poetry readings and chamber music, in time.``